‘Twin Peaks’ Doesn’t Push NBC Off Top

ABC’s “Twin Peaks” was the highest-rated movie of the 1989-90 television season, but that did not stop NBC from winning the ratings race for the week, it was reported today.

Not even the one-two rankings for the week of ABC’s “America’s Funniest Home Videos”--an original edition in first place and a rerun edition tied for second--was enough to unseat NBC.

The intriguing, ongoing mystery “Twin Peaks” earned a 21.7 rating and a 33 share, putting it in fifth place and making it the highest-rated single part network movie presentation since May 21, 1989, when ABC aired “Everybody’s Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure.”

The combination of “Videos” and “Twin Peaks” gave ABC its second consecutive Sunday night win, the first time that has happened since October, 1987, when the network aired World Series games on consecutive Sundays.

“Twin Peaks” now moves to Thursday nights, when it must compete with “Cheers” and “Grand.”

Another new show made the top 10--NBC’s “Carol & Company” came in 10th in its second “preview” airing before it joins the regular schedule on April 14.

ABC had two new entries on Wednesday night. The premiere of “The Marshall Chronicles” came in 27th, and a close second to the second half of “Jake and the Fat Man,” the CBS time period winner. The competition on NBC, the revived “FM,” tied for 54th.

ABC’s “Equal Justice” in its regular Wednesday time period tied for 41st with “Quantum Leap,” its NBC rival, while “Wiseguy” on CBS tied for 72nd with “Sydney,” one of CBS’s new comedies.

CBS’s “Bagdad Cafe” tied for 37th and won its time period, but its teammate, “Sugar & Spice,” tied for 54th.

Among the new shows that are not scoring well are Robert Mitchum’s “Family for Joe” (NBC) in 61st and CBS’s “Normal Life,” tied for 80th place on a list of 84 shows.

“Twin Peaks” was by far the top Sunday movie. On NBC a rerun of “Jesus of Nazareth”--the third coming of the film on network TV--came in 52nd, and CBS’s “Crossing to Freedom” was 56th.

On a day-by-day basis, NBC was No. 1 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday nights, ABC took Friday and Sunday, and CBS won Monday.

NBC won the ratings race for the week ending April 8 with a 13.7 rating and a 23 share, according to the A. C. Nielsen Co. ABC narrowed the usually wide gap with a 12.8 rating and a 22 share, while CBS was third with an 11.6 rating and a 20 share.

The 29-week-old, season-to-date ratings show NBC with a 14.7 rating and a 24 share, ABC with a 12.9 rating and a 21 share, and CBS with a 12.2 rating and a 20 share.

TOP 10 SHOWS

Here are the ratings for national primetime television last week (April 2-8), as compiled by the A.C. Nielsen Co.

Program Network Rating 1. America’s Funniest ABC 22.3 Home Videos 2. Cheers NBC 21.9 Funniest Home Videos ABC 21.9 (8:30 p.m.) 4. The Cosby Show NBC 21.8 5. Twin Peaks ABC 21.7 6. NCAA Basketball Championship CBS 20.0 7. A Different World NBC 19.7 8. Unsolved Mysteries NBC 18.6 9. Rosanne ABC 18.4 10. Carol & Company NBC 17.5